What is a good and cheap home school, that I wouldn't have to pay for all up front?

Question

I have a 5th grader and a 7 th grader. We are planning to move in the next few weeks and dont want to have to start them and then withdrawl them in two weeks. So I'm trying to find a good homeschool ( thats what they want anyway ) Help Please. I'm not rich so it has to be a reasonable one.

Answer 1

Homeschooling doesn't have to be expensive at all. The library has almost everything you need.

My kids go to a charter school that is 2 days at school and 3 days at home each week. They have a rigorous, classical cirriculum. Because it is a charter school, all materials are free. We just finished ordering our cirriculum for the year. For some great, all inclusive programs covering phinics, reading, writing, spelling, critical thinking, math, and history, our order was less than $500. The school also provides Rosetta Stone for Spanish, science instruction, music and art.

There are online charter schools as well, if you are willing to sacrifice some control over the cirriculum...K-12 is one that many states use and pay for. You can check with your state. Just Google "charter schools homeschooling" and the state name.

If you are moving out of state, check out the state you are moving to on the HSLDA website and see what the legal requirements are to homeschool. If you are moving out of state and want to use a charter school, you may want to hold of on school for a few weeks and just do lots of "educational" stuff with them at home. Missing 2 weeks of school isn't going to harm them. It's easy to "catch up" if you are homeschooling. Just add a couple of additional lessons each day once you start and you'll be on track in no time.

Answer 2

You can try ACE they run about 40 a month for the work books it took about a week to get them. schooloftomorrow.com You can  order them month to month if you want all you need is to get the workbooks and the literature book to go with it. Its pretty simple to teach but they need to be able to learn on their own or with minimal help. My daughters books give her all the answers she needs if she just reads. It is very christian orented so if your not into that its definately not for you. Science is creation based there are bible verses in every book to memorize.

Answer 3

Well, I know there is an online home-schooling thing called FLVS (Florida Virtual School). Its free in FL. But you have to pay if you are out of state.

Answer 4

Go eclectic.  Pick and choose.  Go to second hand stores, library and internet.

Ask other homeschoolers if they have discards that they don't use.  Ask your public school for discarded books.

Investigate.  Find out your teaching style and their learning style.

Read.

It does not have to be expensive.

Answer 5

Hi,

I homeschool practically for free.  Go to the library and get "Home Learning Year by Year" by Rebecca Rupp.  This book gives you information on what you should teach for every grade level from pre-k-12.  I used the book so much, I had to buy my own copy $8 on Amazon.com.

Check this site out for grade appropriate reading lists http://www.prge.lib.md.us/KidsCenter/Boo...   I use the library (free material) for all of my books. I know your moving, look for books on tape at the library (pefect for school on the go). You can find education movies at the library by Schlessinger Media (they cover, history, science, health, pe, and many others).  Here is their website(do buy them they are too expensive, you can rent them for free from the library) http://www.libraryvideo.com/sm/sm_about....  

Also go to google and type for example, free handwringting printables, or free pre-algebra printables, free journal topics for 7th grade.

Also, go to ebay to find books.  For example, we love Saxon Math(awesome self taught book, does not require too much parent involvement and repetitive so the child retains more). I went on Ebay and got my complete 7th set with teaching manual for $25.  Good luck.

Answer 6

Unschooling can be very inexpensive.  Make use of your local library as well as free and cheap museums and cultural events.  

You can learn so much with so little if you just work at it a bit.  

Best of luck to you and your family as you embark on this fantastic voyage :)

Answer 7

Search the net for a free online charter.  They are there even from states other than the one you live in because they can collect ADA (read$$$)  even for distance learning.  Ah yes, search distance learning, homeschool etc

Answer 8

I'm enrolled at Penn Foster's. I'm not quite sure if they deal with K-7 grades. But you should check it out. I could be wrong.

Answer 9

Ambleside Online is free :-)

http://amblesideonline.org/

It's very literature based, and almost all the selections are available as free ebooks.  Many of them can also be found in the library.  

The only thing you would really need to supplement would be math (there are many different programs, depending on your kids' level and learning style.)  Science is taken care of through nature study, if you would like some other area of science Apologia, A Beka, and BJU all have excellent programs.  I personally prefer Apologia, but again, it all depends on your needs and what your students like.

http://www.highschoolscience.com/

http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/

http://www.abeka.com/

http://www.bjupress.com/webapp/wcs/store...

And you can find them all for less at Rainbow Resource:

http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php

Good luck - hope that helps!

Answer 10

Well, if you order books now, they'll probably take 2 weeks to order them anyway.  For now order the books and have them sent to your new address.  Unless you want to do www.k12.com  or www.connectionsacademy.com  These are online public schools.  It just depends on your kids.  If they work better from books then get them books.  If they could do all of their classes online, then go for it.

Also, make sure to register your kids as homeschoolers in your state, or if you are moving out of state, make sure then get registered.  www.hslda.org will show you the laws for the state, so find the state and do what it tells you to do.

Answer 11

I use Christian Liberty Press and I love it.  It is inexpensive and my children really like it.  It is a Christ centered curriculum and the children really learn about God.  It sets an excellent foundation.